Anterior Hip Replacement

The Doctors—February 21, 2012

Recently Dr. Michael Alexiades, and his patient Phil, appeared on The Doctors to discuss how the latest in hip replacement surgery helps hip pain.

Phil: I am an active guy. I love to walk. I walk everywhere. Lately I have had serious pain in the hip and leg. It's difficult to walk short distances. it's slowed me down. it hurts to bend over and put on the socks. I am 58, but the pain in my hip makes me feel 88. What can I do to fix this to get back to my active self?

Doctor: How you feeling?

Phil: Okay. Except for this hip.

Doctor: We looked at the x-rays. You need a hip replacement. The good news is, the way we do it has changed so that the recovery is much quicker.

Host: We are here with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Alexiades, from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, along with his patient, Phil. Dr. Alexiades you have a procedure that's a little different?

Doctor: Yes, the anterior approach has been around for a long time. It's never been used for hip replacement regularly, until the last few years when new instrumentation and improvement in the techniques allowed us to go in without cutting any muscle tissue, allowing for less pain, quicker recovery and more return to normal function.

Host: We want to hear more about that, first, getting to the patient, Phil. How are you doing?

Phil: Pretty good. i made it to my niece's wedding.

Host: Were you on the dance floor? December 8th, correct?

Phil: Right.

Host: You wanted to go to this wedding. You ended up going to the wedding and you were out there on the dance floor. Look at that!

Host: What can we do to protect our hips?

Doctor: Maintain your weight at the appropriate level because for every pound you gain, you put another 2 and-a-half pounds of pressure on the hip. So keep yourself light. if you already have a diseased hip. See someone early. There are hip preservation types of procedures, arthroscopic, sometimes open, that prevent having to have a hip replacement.

Host: But in the end, Phil is back on the dance floor. That's what matters!